Night of the Oleander
by tblink8801
Summary: Link finds trouble in the Lost Woods when a mysterious woman saves him. He wants to know who she is and why she risked her life to save him...
1. The Injury

Chapter One: The Injury

It had been a long night and Link had been searching for a criminal. This criminal was causing disruption and thievery in Western Hyrule and Linkhad been sent to investigate. His only description of the thief was a slender character that moved in a blur of black. Link knew not if this thief was human or super-natural. Either cause would have been realisticin a place like Hyrule, where many unusual creatures dwelled. He was lucky enough to have his lead; reports of shadows peering over and into the Kokiri forest. If the thief was in that area, the Lost Woods would bethe most suitable location for a hideout. With it's thick trees, its easy to understand it's name.

As Link rode his horse through the trees, a black blur flew threw the trees in front of him. He heard a rustle from behind him, then another to his left, and out came a solid black wolfos flying toward him. It knocked him off of Epona and made the horse run off. Link drew his sword in attempt to draw the beast back.Unaffected, the wolfos jumped directly over Link and wounded him at the side.The knock startled him, giving him an adrenaline rush that charged him to swing at the beast.The wolfos jumped back over Link again and threw his arm at Link, knocking him against a tree in the woods.  
Link jumped to his feet and swung hissword in his trademark diagonal blow at the wolfos, it being blocked by the razor claws of the wolfos. It swung back again at Link knocking the swordout of reach. Swiftly, the wolfos clawed Link in the face, rendering him unconscious.

From a nearby tree, a woman dressed in a black draping outfit and with long blood-red hair jumped to the ground and threw a dagger into the creatures neck, slowly poisoning it to death. The woman looked over at Link, lying on the ground silently. She leaned over him and ripped a piece of her clothing and wrapped it around the cut at his waist. She gave a small sigh and lifted him over her shoulders.


	2. The Cabin

Chapter Two: The Cabin

It seemed like life was over. That everything with meaning had been destroyed.  
_Life will return. I know it._ A blur of brown faded into sight. Link shuffled around the soft textures of the blanket around him. Someone must care...

Link sat up from the bed and saw a woman sitting down and staring out a nearby window. It was midday and Link had been taken to this woman's home. The woman spoke to him without turning around. "You awake?" Link held his hand around his waist. It ached with pain.

"What happened back there?" Link answered. The woman waited a moment to reply.

"You were apparently attacked by a wolfos. It knocked you out. I came in and finished it off and brought you back here." She left no sign of emotion in her voice.

"Where...exactly is here?" Link took a moment to observe that he was in a cabin of sorts, likely still in the woods.

"This is my home. It's about half a mile east of where I found you."

Link was startled by the distance this woman claimed to carry him.

"Half a mile? You must get a lot of exercise."

The woman sighed. "It isn't that far. But why were you out here in the first place?"

"I think...I was supposed to be looking for someone. A dangerous criminal."

The woman gave a soft chuckle, one which Link seemed not to notice. "Well, is there a reason you were looking for a criminal? Want to get mixed up in the wrong business?"

"What would you know about such things? I was to challenge him to a duel. To stop him from causing crime in western Hyrule."

The woman turned around and stared at him with unbelievable eyes. They were as red as her hair and gleamed in the light like a cat's. As far as her shape went, she was thin and tall, but her body structure was perfectly balanced in the same way. "Now, just who said the thief was a _he_?"

The woman showed a devious smile.

"So what next? Do you plan on killing me now?"

The woman gave an insulting laugh. "You pose little threat to me seeing as how you struggled with a black wolfos. Anyone in these woods should know they should be dealt with long-range."

Link was steaming with rage. _Who does she think she is? _He reached for his sword and realized it was no longer behind his back.

"If you're looking for your sword, it's downstairs."

He should have realized. Even if this woman wasn't a crook, she would have removed weapons. It is considered rude to sleep with a weapon in one's presence anyway(1).

Link pulled the blanket slowly to the side of the bed with pain. He moved his foot to the right, trying to get out it. He lifted himself with his arms, but quickly reused one of them to clench to his waist, falling back on the bed.

The woman sighed. "If it's a duel you want, you should wait until you're in better condition."

He knew he couldn't defeat her in this state.

She was right, but if he could walk, maybe she would let him go.

"Yeah, I guess so..."

"I'm always up for a fair fight, so I'll let you sleep here for a couple nights. You're in no shape to travel anyway." She grinned and walked over to the door opposite to the window.

"Where will you sleep?" Link asked suspiciously. The woman, who was going to leave the room had Link not asked this question, moved her index finger to point at a couch against the wall opposite to the bed. Link didn't notice it earlier, for the bed was slightly too high for one to see over it. "How do I know you won't kill me in my sleep? No honor among thieves, right?"

The woman looked at him almost as if irritated. "You are no thief, so I'll honor our arrangement to a fair fight." The room became silent.

"...Thanks for the help." he said. The woman smiled and left the room.

Link sighed. _Who is she? I didn't even catch her name..._

He looked around the room he was in. It had wooden walls, flooring, and ceiling. The walls had black rectangular fabrics, ones with red diamond designs like found often in Hyrule(2). A chest crested with blue gems was humbly covered with a grey towel-sized fabric. A thin black sword hung next to a black axe on the wall above the bed, and in each corner of the room were three to five baskets each. They were probably filled with stolen goods. Curiously, there were no pictures in the room. _She must have lived alone for a long time..._

A while later, the woman returned to the room with a bowl of something hot in her hands. "Here," the woman said, "Eat this. It's good for you." her expression seemed calm and unconcerned. She sat down on the couch with one leg over the other, facing the window again.

"Thank you." said Link. He tasted the contents of the bowl to discover a soup. "Why did you become a thief?" He said abruptly.

The woman made no change in expression; just the same, almost depressed look.

"I like to steal things." said the woman.

"Come on, nothing is that simple." he said. The woman looked straight into Link's eyes.

"And why not?" Link wasn't exactly sure.

"Well...You seem troubled, or at least concerned. You must have some reason for why you do this."

"Life isn't easy for all of us. I never knew my parents. I just...remember my father riding off into the distance. One night he left me all alone in the market. I waited, but he never came back. After that, I wound up in the alleys. I learned to swipe food and money. I also learned to hate those who selfishly turned me away at their door. I had no home, so I ran away to the forest seeking refuge."

"If it's any consolation, I never knew my parents either. I was raised in the Kokiri forest."

Link had about finished his soup, which tasted of familiar forest-grown spices and remedial mushroom.

"You're Kokiri then? It's my understanding that they never leave the forest. That they never grow old. Why have you then?"

This was something Link never really spoke of. He ignored the past mostly, but he felt like he could trust this woman, even though she was a dangerous criminal.

"I guess," he started, "my destiny had other plans for me." There was a long silence, and then the woman stood up.

"It's getting late;" she took the empty bowl from Link "you should rest before nightfall."

"What is your name?"

Link remembered to ask. The woman smiled and told him her name was Phae.

She left the room with two last words: "Good night."

Link sighed, and then rolled over on his side. A couple minutes later, he was asleep.

Phae returned to find Link silently sleeping. She walked over to the curtains quietly, trying not to wake the hero, and closed them. She laid down with her head on her fist and looked at Link from the other side of the room. She slowly fell asleep, with the picture of Link in her head.


	3. Good Morning

Chapter Three: Good Morning

Link was standing in a dark forest breathing heavily. Before him was someone breathing just as heavily and covered in a misty fog.

"Link," the person said in a blurry voice. "I…was…created……to……-"

Suddenly as the voice wandered off, the fog around the person covered Link's entire range of sight until the color brown once again faded into the focus of Phae's bedroom.

He jumped up, breathing almost as heavily as he had in the dream.

"Good morning." Phae said from across the room. "Sleep well?" She took a sip from the hot wooden cup in her hand. Link returned his breathing to fairly normal with a sigh.

"Y-yeah…" he yawned. "It was okay." He looked out of the window. It was probably two to three hours until noon, he thought.

"How is the cut?"

"It's not bad anymore. I think I'm fine."

"Let me see it." Phae put down the cup on a wooden box then walked toward Link. He turned to face the side of the bed then stressed lifting off his tunic and laid it aside. Phae removed a layer of bandage at his waist to reveal the cut.

It was still a very dark red, and it had gone what appeared to be an inch into his slender waist. Phae, with one hand, slid her hand along the cut sending chills down Link's spine. With the other hand, she slid her index finger slowly down his chest and stomach affectionately.

"Try standing again." She suggested. Link moved an inch up then stopped a moment for two reasons. One, a small pain was felt at his side and two, he realized that, even though he had been covered by the quilted blanket before, he had just removed his tunic. He was stuck between putting it on and perhaps offending her by the thought that the only reason for this request was to derive pleasure from the Hylian, or standing up and revealing his lower body. In the split second he had to decide, he passed off his pause as adjusting to the pain and made the decision to lift himself with one hand and hold the blanket with the other. He successfully lifted himself onto his feet (with some easily expected difficulty), and Phae nodded her head in approval.

"Good. Well, if you think that you can handle the trip, your stuff is downstairs by the door. There is a map of the woods on the table if you need it." She started to walk away from the bed then turned and said: "Oh, I nearly forgot. There's a horse sitting outside of my cabin. If that would happen to be yours, I'd appreciate if you moved it."

"Thank you for your help." She responded with a nod then walked out of the room after picking up her cup. Once the door closed, Link fell down backwards onto the bed and dropped the blanket on the floor. After a couple seconds, he grabbed his tunic then fit it on.

Link found his way back to his home in Hyrule castle town before sunset.


	4. The Fight

Chapter Four: The Fight

Sitting down at a table, Link stared lazily at a bowl of fruit with his head propped up on one fist. The room was round-shaped and was the perfect size. A balcony was to his right, his full-sized bed behind him, and to his left was a kitchen right next to a door that led to the bathroom. This room reminded him of his home in the Kokiri forest. He takes a fruit from the basket, one red and round fruit that tasted like orange and plum together(3). He took a bite of the fruit then sighed.

"She isn't all that bad…and she has her reasons."

Link sighed again and took another bite of the fruit. He slowly stood to his feet and walked over to the balcony.

The view was magnificent; on one side you could see the resting marketplace below and in another direction, the castle whispered in the wind. Link stretched his arms out then took a seat on the chair outside. After a moment or two he stood up and walked over to pick up his sword and shield then walked out the door. Link scattered down the stairs of the apartments and jumped on Epona, who was saddled up downstairs.

At the entrance of the Lost Woods, Link pulled out the map that Phae made for him and followed the directions to her cabin.

It was dark and full of mist and Link felt a dark presence flowing through the woods. After several minutes of trotting through the forest, Link found himself approaching the cabin. He rode along the side of the cabin and stepped off of Epona at the front door. He knocked on the door to see that Phae had anticipated the duel as well; she had a long, fairly thin sword on her back that looked like it could produce lethal damage in seconds.

"I've come for your blood, thief."

Phae's head was tilted down and her eyes could not be seen through her blood red hair. "Ready when you are." A grin could be seen on her beautiful face, a face Link felt regrettable to fight.

Link performed a careful back flip and unsheathed his sword. He slashed the air in a beautiful stance that Phae hadn't noticed; she was unsheathing her sword as well then unexpectedly she flashed to behind Link, then appeared to Link's left, then right, then behind him once more. With the bunt side of her blade, she knocked Link on the head, causing him to fall to the ground. He quickly recovered with a roll and before Phae could see, he pulled out an arrow and his bow. He shot the arrow with brilliant speed directly at Phae, who jumped to the side and almost evaded the arrow; it hit her in the shoulder, just skimming across the top. She fell to the ground and with a moan, she pulled out the arrow and broke it in half.

This action left Link in almost as much awe as her next move; she jumped into the air and remained there, floating 4 feet above the damp ground. A dark purple aura surrounded her as she tossed a glowing sphere of the same color as the aura at Link. Link swung his sword to deflect it away into the woods. Phae floated in a semi circle around Link to throw another sphere of energy. This one reflected to Link, and then to Phae, then to Link, who knocked it farther into the woods than the last time.

The battle had reached a climax as Phae returned to the earth and howled a loud laugh.

"You are skillful. Such an amazing talent must be fit with an equally worthy name. Is it as amazing as I've been lead to believe?"

Link was breathing heavily. "Yeah, the name's Link. What's it to ya?"

Phae's face turned to an expression of shock. Her sword fell to the ground and she dropped to her knees.

"…Link?"

**Author's Notes:** The chapter may seem to end abruptly, but what you are actually reading is scene 4 (Nurse) and most of scene 5 (The fight). What's going to happen is, in my opinion, very interesting, so I wanted to keep readers reading.  
Things in the chapter:

(3) Since the world of Hyrule doesn't co-exist with our earth, to make the world seem deeper and farther away from reality, I used this bizarre fruit. Somebody email me with a good idea on what I should call the fruit!

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! (Note: Link took multiple days to recover from the accident, but he still hasn't fully recovered. He is in good enough shape to fight Phae.)


	5. Truth and Temptation

Chapter Five: Truth and Temptation

_"Child...You will be born into this world...May the goddesses by ignorant of this inevitable presence. That you, my child...My sweet daughter will protect the power of my new rule...Hyrule...the Triforce...they will be mine...and the fairy boy...Link...will surrender the Triforce of courage at my feet..." _

The red haired woman sat with her knees to the wet earth and a blank expression on her face. "...Link?" The blonde Hylian seemed over-filled with joy that the mention of his name put so much of what seemed to be fear into this woman.

"Have you heard of me?" Link said with a smirk on his face.

Phae's head was tilted down in the pain of her realization. "I...remember now. My father...my purpose...Link, I wasn't born from my mother...I was created by black magic..." She jolted her head up with tears falling from her beautiful eyes.

"Link, I was created to _destroy you_!"

Link looked as shocked as Phae had before. "Are you kidding? Do you plan to kill me now?" Link stood at guard.

"Phae...was created for that purpose alone," she said as her eyes grew solid black. In an instant, she jumped up at Link's neck with her sword out, only to miss after Link's reflexes were put to work; he held his sword diagonally then pressed upward, sending Phae's blade up in the air giving Link a clear shot.

He took the opportunity to knock her down with his own body weight and held the blade to her neck.

At first she looked enraged, with her eyes dark and her face in fury, but she couldn't hold it much longer. Tears fell once again from her eyes until Link felt sympathetic and moved the blade away from her neck then stood up and sheathed it.

"Link...I'm...sorry."

"...It's okay." As he stood there, a rain began to pour down on the trees. They just stayed still, looking at each other for a moment. Phae loosened up and dropped her head to the ground. She slid her fingers through the slowly dampening soil breathing slowly.

Link took a step toward Phae, whose eyes were now closed and lied down next to her. He put a hand on her waist and slowly slid his hand across. He moved closer to her so that they were less than an inch away, then laid on top of her, with his left leg between hers. He held her in his arms with his left cheek touching her right.

"Link..."

The rain poured on through the night on which they fell in love...

Author's Notes:

O.O' Way ta go Link! Everyone is getting tired of the short chapters, so do not fret! I wrote the next chapter (on paper though) and it is about five pages! So it will be longer than the others. I sorta gave a couple clues about things, so if ya don't get 'em now, they'll come to you next chapter. Thanks for reading! Please review me!


	6. Encounter

Pre-Notes: I'm sorry I took so long making this new chapter. I know I promised an extra long one so I did my best to make it longer than the others. Here's just a small note- Some of the things in this chapter are really complicated and confusing, as you may find out, so bear with me until the end, okay? I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Chapter Six: Encounter

He was too sleepy…he didn't feel like getting up. He had, of course, many good, thought-out reasons. One being that he felt as if he had just gained twenty pounds, which would probably explain why he felt a large warm lump on his stomach…

No. That didn't make much sense at all. He finally decided that the best way to find out what this lump was was to look at it. He lifted the blanket to see Phae, whose head was resting calmly on Link's stomach.

_What did I do last night?_

He wanted to get up. He really did, but a hand was wrapped tightly around him, and as he struggled, Phae began to stir, and her vibrant eyes stared quizzically up at him.

"Link…" she yawned.

"Phae," Link said with a grin. She smiled back, only to have the look on her face stolen from her and replaced by a horror-struck expression.

"Link!" she screamed. "I shouldn't be here! We mustn't be seen! He'll kill me! He'll kill you! He'll-"

"Phae!" Link interrupted. "Who is _he_? Why will he kill us? Is it…your father?" A second too late, Link feared that this was the worst thing he could say. Fortunately for him, he was wrong;

"No…my brother…he too was created for the purpose of…" she paused, "He is very determined…especially since he has failed before."

"Before?" Link hesitated. "So I have faced him before?" Phae sighed.

"Well yes, once. Father had him in one of the temples."

"What did he look like?"

"I cannot say for sure how you might have seen him. Because we are both born of black magic, we perceive each other differently…when I see him, I see shadows…" Phae could tell that this explanation puzzled Link, which is why she explained further, "Don't you remember? At the Zora's temple?"

"The water temple? I-" Link remembered. He fought him at the water temple. He was his reflection…his shadow… "Him? He is your brother?"

"Yes. I have to talk to him. After all, now that father is gone, he really has no reason to pursue you any further," She explained.

"So where is he?" Link asked.

"He can usually be seen at the ancient cemetery."

"Do you mean the one at Kakariko?" he asked.

"Not exactly. Have you ever been through the woods that border Kakariko? There is a shrine there. One built in the ancient times of Hyrule."

The arrived at the town of Kakariko and Phae showed Link the way up the stone ladder on the side of the windmill. Then the two of them jumped over the fence that barricaded the wild forest from the town.

The forest was green and murky with the sun's light barely filtering through the tall trees. The woods seemed to come to an abrupt end where an opening of grassy land appeared. They walked upon the land that was about the size of Kakariko graveyard to see many relic tombs and one that stood out among the rest. It had a great stone triangle that resembled the Triforce and a large entryway that presumably led to the inners of the tomb.

"Is this it?" Link asked. Phae responded with a nod and the two went inside.

It was pitch black in the tomb except for a ray of light coming from a crack in the ceiling which revealed a staircase leading into the earth.

At the end of the stairs was a door that opened to reveal a chamber lit by four flambeaus's positioned at each corner. There were circular markings on the floor in the center of the room which Phae approached, closely followed by Link. As they drew nearer, the lines began to glow.

"What is this?" Link whispered. Phae did not reply, but the answer came to Link as a ray of light burst into the ceiling of the room and an object slowly came to the floor. The glowing lights extinguished, revealing a dark figure kneeling before him. The figure's face jolted up, looking at Link, and then the figure darted at him with its sword.

Link's reflexes were put to work; he unsheathed his sword and countered the shadow's at a perfect angle, sending the shadow back.

"Stop!" Phae jumped in between the two and held her arms out. The shadow was breathing heavily, yet he released not a single sound. It was almost as if the shadow was oblivious to Phae's presence, for he kept staring at Link with a deadly desire.

"Brother, we must end this," Phae said to the shadow. He stood up.

"Father would kill you now if he heard you." He spat on the ground.

"He is gone, brother! There is no reason to continue this pointless task, even the prophecies say it has to be between him and father."

"I always knew you were a coward," he turned his back. Phae sighed and turned to Link.

"It's no use, Link. He's too stubborn." Link sighed, and the two turned for the door.

Oo; did I surprise a few of you with the Shadow Link thing?

Well, it was sort of necessary. I don't know if I liked this chapter as much as some of the others (although shorter). Well, tell me what you think, after so long of a time I have been away…sorry!


	7. A Lost Cause

Pre-Notes: This chapter was finished MUCH faster than the last. Also, this chapter is longer than the three-paged last one. This one might just be my favorite so far, and I hope that you will enjoy it too.

Chapter Seven: A Lost Cause

The shadowed man sat in darkness, contemplating the events of before. He had been born for one purpose alone, and the only one who ever stood with him now stood against him. His little sister had sided with the enemy. _What the hell can I do? _He thoughtHe had no ally now. Not his sister. Not his father. No one. _Join them, _a voice told him, _no. You mustn't betray father's cause_. Then it hit him. Why didn't he think of it before? _I'm coming father. _He thought

The forest echoed with the sound they made; no playful melody flying through the trees here. Link and Phae trailed back through the Lost Woods on the way to the cabin, soaked with a feeling of failure.

"Phae," Link said. No response. "Phae, what's the matter?"

"What if he didn't know before? Now he knows for sure. Link, this was a mistake." She sighed as she arrived at the moon-covered cabin.

"But I already know how he plays his game. Even if he comes after us, I'm sure we'll be fine." He said in a comforting voice. She looked at him, half relieved.

"I suppose you're right. After all, it's two against one, right?" she smiled at him. "Come on let's get something to eat." He too was relieved, now that Phae had calmed down, and for the first time was showing an uncharacteristic smile. Link smiled at her and the two went inside.

So now he had this. Where though would it take him? He didn't really care. As long as he had his flower, his beautiful Oleander, he couldn't care about anything in the world. True, there still was a chance that Shadow Link may seek them, but for Link- he felt like he was ready for anything.

The next morning, Link got up to feed Epona, and while making breakfast, Phae walked down the stairs.

"Hello," she said with a plainly. Link looked at her with a grin.

"Well good morning," he said. "After breakfast, would you come with me to the market? The bazaar's got fresh fruit today."

"Yes, that would be nice," she said with that same grin Link was going to like. She took a seat at the table. "Thanks."

The temple shuddered at the sight of the shadow, who walked importantly through the entryway. The door of time remained shut, yet the shadow walked up to it.

"Thanks for this father. We will triumph over the fairy boy you set out to defeat." With a grin so horribly twisted you might panic at its sight, the shadow absorbed himself in a dark purple aura. The world around him disappeared and was shortly replaced by another environment that appeared. It was all white. There was no end; even the ground was intangible. All there was to be seen was a fallen man, bound by chains to a wall unseen.

"Father," the shadow said in a respectable voice. The man looked up, his eyes swollen red. There was little expression in his cold, green face, yet anyone could recognize that look about he-Ganondorf. Lord of the Gueredo. Wielder of the Triforce of power - he had been lying in defeat for all of these years.

"Son," he said, "free me from these chains." Yet even he knew better; the chains could not be broken.

"I cannot, father." He said humbly.

Ganondorf slowly replied, "Then take me back to Hyrule."

"Yes father." And he did- he grabbed him by the arm and phased back into the temple of time.

"I am weak, my child. And soon the sages will take note of my absence. Tell me: where is your sister?"

"She has joined the enemy, father."

"Then we must kill her," He said. And with his only remaining strength, he left the temple of time, free at last.

That day, Hyrule castle had a new ruler and the skies above turned red once more. (1)

Phae rode with Link to the gates of the market to find something not right; nobody was walking the streets. No dogs were barking. Link rode into the castle grounds to see a horrible, familiar sight: The red skies over Gannon's Castle. Phae jumped off of Epona and ran up to the pit-like moat of fire and collapsed in horror.

"This means he already knows about us," Phae whispered.

"How could this have happened?" Link whispered in return.

At the highest tower of the castle, in the golden room where the Triforce once united, the dark lord sat on his throne as the shadow paced about.

"Father, when will I get to stand beside you?" he turned and faced Ganondorf, whose eyebrow was raised.

"What do you mean? You are but a puppet," he said, slightly amused.

"If it had not been for me, you would still be chained up!" he said with a red glow in his eyes. Ganondorf Laughed.

"Then you shouldn't have freed me."

"Fine then. You can handle him on your own." He once more was absorbed in the dark purple aura and disappeared from the room.

Link got off of Epona and looked up at the castle. It was tall and black, with spikes covering most of its towers. The gate had been torn apart and the hills surrounding the grounds were no longer green but covered in ash and gravel. There was no greenery anymore, just a deep pit of fire.

Before he realized what he was looking at, a dark figure materialized by the front door of the castle.

"Phae," he said, "look over there! At the door!" Shadow Link was standing there, and he walked over the pit of lava, nothing under his feet. "Why is he here?" he asked. The shadow approached, though he didn't appear threatening.

"Brother,"

Author's Notes: c Yes! All done! See, it was longer and I got it done faster! I hope that was okay, but there is something that I believe I should address-

Things in this chapter:

(1)-You might be wondering how the castle appeared over such a small period of time, because, although the issue wasn't discussed in the game, there was a seven year period in between the time Link fell asleep and Gannon taking over the castle. Well, taking advantage of this not-necessarily-suggested topic, (and for the purpose of this fanfic) Ganondorf, both times, took over the castle swiftly and drew the castle from the earth with the power of Din. -- There. Explanation. Hope you liked it and all that stuff.


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